The Handwara massacre was a massacre of 21 unarmed protesters by the

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

of India in the town of

Handwara Handwara is a sub-district and a town in Kupwara district of Kashmir. It was known as Uttar Machipora until the division of Baramulla district in the 1980s resulting in the formation of two new districts: Kupwara and Bandipora. It is located on ...

, Kashmir on 25 January 1990.

Background

On 21 January 1990,

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role li ...

opened fire on a group of protesters on the Gawkadal bridge. The Massacre killed between 28-280 civilians.

Massacre

On 25 January 1990, At around 11 AM 10,000 people were marching in the town of Handwara to protest the

Gawkadal massacre The Gawkadal massacre was named after the Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India, where, on 21 January 1990, the Indian paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force opened fire on a group of ...

which had occurred four days earlier. At around that time, a

Tata 407 The Tata 407 is a light commercial vehicle manufactured by Tata Motors. Launched in 1986, in 2011 the 407 model sold more than 500,000 units. The 407 has a payload of 2.25 tonnes, an overall length of 4.7 metres, and a turning ci ...

attempted to dive through the protest, the protests blocked the path of the vehicle. In response, the BSF opened fire on the crowd and continued firing until 2:00 PM local time. After the massacre, the dead were piled in a tin shed near the Handwara district hospital. The massacre killed 21 people and injured 75 others.

References

Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir 1990 in India {{India-hist-stub